Sears CFO Attempts to Quell Investor Concerns

Mar 5, 2012

The chief financial officer of Sears Holdings Corporation has sought to improve investor relations over the reported spinoff of smaller-format U.S. stores by citing the significance of valuing a "lost" asset, Bloomberg reports.

According to the news source, CFO Rob Schriesheim has said that the spinoff decision is not a new turnaround strategy or simply a means of raising cash. Now, analysts believe that the spinoff - which could raise $500 million - will ease the concerns of investors and suppliers about the struggling company.

"I wouldn’t call it a desperate move, but I would call it a carefully calculated move to shore up confidence," David Stowell, a clinical professor of finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, told the news source. "Sometimes you make decisions just to survive, as opposed to how to be strategic over the next 10 years."

The move also comes as Sears ended 2011 with its worst quarterly loss in at least nine years, the news source said.

The company has also been forced to close a number of stores in North America, with a recent announcement of more closures in Ottawa, Vancouver and Calgary, according to the Hamilton Spectator.